“Polar Vortex” Plunges Much Of The Country Into Coldest Weather In 20 Years

Forget Hercules: The weather phenomenon of the week is a “polar vortex.” Meteorologist Frank Giannasca described the unusual event to NBC News as a “a swirling pool of extremely cold air located tens of thousands of feet in the atmosphere.”

The polar vortex has plunged much of the country into dangerous, record-breaking low temperatures, including 32 below zero in Fargo, N.D., 21 below in Madison, Wis., and 15 below in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Chicago, according to the AP.

Close to 3,000 flights were canceled Sunday, according to Flightaware.com. But the weather couldn’t prevent more than 70,000 hardcore fans from attending the Green Bay Packers game in Wisconsin, despite temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees.